All Hallows Day/Samhain Mashup

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Grumpy hummingbird in a local cemetery. Appropriate.

This is the time of year when it’s dark when we leave the house and just about dark when we arrive home. Very little sun to be seen unless we make a concerted effort to get outside on breaks (and if it’s not raining). So thoughts turn inwards. It’s an understandable time for the development of All Hallows Eve (Halloween), Samhain, Day of the Dead. Also, we might be coming down from yesterday’s overbought-for-the-trick-or-treaters sugar high. And of course the election is next week. Yep.

For truly wallowing in the experience, provoking some thought, and then moving on better for it, I recommend:

Listening to Leonard Cohen’s new album, You Want it Darker. He’s 82 and acknowledges he’s winding down but seems to be at peace with that. Haven’t formed an opinion of the album yet beyond being glad that it exists. His voice, never strong, has lost some of what was there. Doesn’t matter.

Reading appropriate poetry such as T.S. Eliot’s “Animula.”

Carving out time for the full length read, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty.

Remembering both Tempus fugit and Carpe diem.

Not one item above is morbid. Accepting, moving on, and DOING SOMETHING with the time we have. Yes.

March 29, 1930 – Red Bluff ‘Phone Call Leads to New Quiz

Article Excerpt #7. See what in the world we’re talking about here.

By Associated Press

Eureka, March 28

A warrant charging murder was issued here late today against […] the slayer of Mary McCoy, identified by the state bureau of criminal identification as the woman found Monday secreted behind a redwood log near the Redwood highway….

Go back and read Article 1 Excerpt, Article 2 Excerpt, Article 3 Excerpt, Article 4 Excerpt, Article 5 Excerpt, Article 6 Excerpt.

March 28, 1930

Article Excerpt #6. See what in the world we’re talking about here.

By Associated Press

Eureka, March 27

Sheriff Runner also received a letter […] The letter said: “A red-haired girl has been murdered a Scotia (a town 30 miles north of here) by a man named Danny. Look for him.” […] Sheriff Runner said he would check the matter further, but expressed the opinion the letter is a hoax. […] Meanwhile Clarence Morrill […] had his men checking over files in Sacramento in an effort to identify the body through fingerprints forwarded by Sheriff Runner […] it would require at least three or four days to check the 60,000 prints in the files….

Go back and read Article 1 Excerpt, Article 2 Excerpt, Article 3 Excerpt, Article 4 Excerpt, Article 5 Excerpt.

March 28, 1930 – Brothers Say Victim Mother of 3 Children

Article Excerpt #5. See what in the world we’re talking about here.

By Associated Press

Eureka, March 27

“There is s strong possibility,” they said, that the body is that of their sister. They based their belief on the fact that two toes on the foot of the woman are webbed, a similarity to that of Mrs. Preston. A scar on the right arm resembled one that was left on Mrs. Preston’s as the result of a burn….

Go back and read Article 1 Excerpt. Read Article 2 Excerpt. Read Article 3 Excerpt. Read Article 4 Excerpt.

March 27, 1930

Article Excerpt #4. See what in the world we’re talking about here.

By Associated Press

Eureka, March 26

The identity of the young woman found slain beside the Redwood highway […] was again cloaked in mystery tonight when two women, each “positively” identified as the victim were located in Los Angeles. […] The slain woman, auburn-haired and about 25 years old, was discovered by state highway commission employees […] where she had lain approximately six weeks. An autopsy revealed she had been shot through the head….

Go back and read Article 1 Excerpt. Read Article 2 Excerpt. Read Article 3 Excerpt.

March 26, 1930 – 2 Theories in Mystery as Police Make Probe

Article Excerpt #3. See what in the world we’re talking about here.

By Associated Press

Eureka, March 26

Tentative identity of the richly clad body of a young woman found yesterday behind a log in northern Humboldt county as that of Mrs. Gladys Preston of Redding [] Another theory was that the body was that of Thelma Hughes of Fruitland, Idaho….

Go back and read Article 1 Excerpt. Read Article 2 Excerpt.

March 25, 1930

Article Excerpt #2. See what in the world we’re talking about here.

By Associated Press

Eureka, March 25

Assistant District Attorney E.S. Mitchell said today that he believed he knew the name of the expensively dressed young woman found slain yesterday […] Mitchell refused to divulge the name, pending future investigation. The clue, he said came from a city in the northern Sacramento valley, where a man and a young woman disappeared….

Go back and read Article 1 Excerpt.

A Sea Change or Releasing an Idea into the Ether

Almost twenty years ago I was doing research for someone in old 1930 newspaper–the tangible, paper kind bound into unwieldy volumes–and became fascinated by a series of reports about the discovery of a young woman’s body along the Redwood Highway in northern California and the subsequent search for both her killer and her identity.

I went on to do my own research and painstakingly copied down everything I could find from the newspaper. Later on I visited various archives and found more related documents. These days you can find much of what I had to dig for without leaving your the comfort of your own home. The story has not left me. True crime isn’t my jam but I haven’t been able to turn it into the novel that I thought was there either.

So, I’m releasing the idea back into the wild. If you can use it, let me know. If you think you’d like to make it a joint project, drop me a line or leave a comment. What I’m going to do is write a series of posts quoting (not reproducing the entire articles because I believe they’re still under copyright by the AP) the series of articles that originally intrigued me. Perhaps they’ll intrigue you, too!